wiring for idiots

[tberk@mindspring.com (T Berk)]

1. Solder is OK but makes the wire stiff in the adjoining area. Some
mechanical support is required which is why I like to shrink tube the
joint after. If I'm feeling it I stick some grease in there prior to
shrinking to keep more O2/H2O out.

The butt connectors work OK but always seemed tacky to me, no offense
anyone. I have used them, and there are some in the engine bay right now
but well, yuck. At least shoot the insides with some electrical spray
lube stuff to help seal the surface(s) away from the atmosphere/water.

2. The fan should run by itself, it might be likely you could spin the
thermo switch out of the rad and reseal it again. i have found
accumulation on the back end that reduced it's effectiveness.

On MY car there is power for the fan coming right off of a hot 30 lead,
but it runs through the fuse box 1st. I have seen retrofitted cars with
direct leads like this:

12v pos - sealed inline fuse - thermo sw. - fan - 12v neg. (or Ground). 

If I was going to put a cabin switch in I would get one that was relayed
to hold during Ign ON but let go as soon as you turned of the key,
connecting it not in series with the circuit mentioned above but
parallel, connecting at the fan itself.

How's that?

TBerk